CHADRON, Neb. -- Both Chadron State College basketball teams will be playing their only games at home in January this weekend in the Chicoine Center.
             
The Eagles will host Colorado Mesa on Friday night and Westminster on Saturday night.  Both double-headers will tip off at 5:30 with the women's contests.
             
After their rousing 78-63 victory over Metro State last Saturday in Denver, the CSC women are 4-7 overall and 2-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.  They continue to be led by junior forward Shay Powers, who is shooting 56.3% from the field and averaging 11.7 points and 6.1 rebounds.
             
Kylie Krise's 23-point outburst against Metro makes her the Lady Eagles' second leading scorer with an 8.1 average.  Liberty Line and Kyra Tanabe are averaging 6.5 points and Allison Olsen 6.3. All are sophomore guards.  Center Awoti Akoi also has become a contributor. She's averaging 6.2 points and has blocked 17 shots.
             
The CSC men, who were in contention at halftime, but couldn't keep pace with Metro in the second half, are 8-5 for the season and 5-2 in the RMAC.  The latter puts them fourth in the 15-team standings.
             
Guard Bryce Latimer leads the Eagles in scoring at 20.2 points a game. That ranks third in the RMAC. He's shooting 48.8% from the field and has made 55 of 65 free throws for 84.6%. He's also the team's assist leader with 53, compared to 33 turnovers, and leads CSC in steals with 15.

Forward Josh Robinson is averaging 14.9 points while shooting 57.5% from the field, which is fourth best in the conference, and he's the CSC rebound leader at 8.5 a game.
             
Third on the CSC scoring chart is Dalton Peterson at 9.8 a game. His 43.9% 3-point shooting (36-82) is third highest in the conference.

Martin Poznanovic has become an important cog in the middle of the Eagles' offense now that Porter Anderson is sidelined by an undisclosed ailment. Poznanovic has made 43 of his 64 field goal attempts while averaging 7.3 points and 4.4 rebounds.
             
Both Colorado Mesa teams are coming to town riding high.  The men are 11-2 overall and 7-0 in the RMAC while the women are 11-3 and 5-2.
             
Olivia Reed, someone Chadron sports fans once knew well, is the Lady Mavericks' pacesetter. The 6-foot Mesa sophomore excelled in volleyball, basketball and track while spending her first two years of high school in Chadron while her father, Houston Reed, was the CSC men's basketball coach. 
             
As a Cardinals' sophomore in 2019-20, Olivia averaged 17.3 points and 7.2 rebounds while leading them to the state tournament and a 23-3 record. She, of course, left when her dad took an assistant's job with the men's basketball team at Northern Colorado, and she became an all-stater for the Windsor Wizards. 
             
Last year at Mesa, Reed averaged 12.4 points and 9.5 rebounds while earning first-team all-RMAC and being named the conference's Female Freshman of the Year. So far this year, she's the Mavericks' leader while shooting 59.4% from the field, averaging 16.9 points and 11.4 rebounds. She was named the DII National Player of the Week in November after the Mavs' opened the season by winning three games during a classic in Canada.
             
Reed isn't the only standout in Mesa's lineup. It also includes 5-7 freshman Mason Rowland, who is averaging 15.7 points and has made 68 of 79 free throws. Three more Mavs are averaging between eight and nine points a game.
 
As their record indicates, the Mesa men are also stellar. Their only losses have been to Dallas Baptist 89-84 in the season-opener and West Texas State 81-66. They recently defeated defending RMAC regular season champion Colorado Mines 86-79 and Metro State 85-82, both while playing in Denver.
 
Four Mavericks are averaging in double figures on the scoreboard, led by 6-9 junior Trevor Baskin at 15.9 points to go with 8.5 rebounds a game.  Two 6-5 juniors, Mac Rinker and Owen Koonce, also are averaging at least 15 points and Isaac Jessup, the team's top 3-point shooter, is chipping in at 10.8 a game.

There are no seniors on Mesa's men's roster and only one on the women's roster.
 
The Saturday night visitors don't seem so imposing.  Both of the Westminster quintets are 0-7 in conference action.  The women are 2-11 overall and the men are 4-9.  
 
Guard Teuila Nawahine leads the Lady Griffons in scoring at 12.2 points a game while the men's leader is 6-6 Chase Porter at 13.1. Senior guard Rylan O'Brien is next on the men's list at 11.8 and has made 35 of the Salt Lake City team's 80 3-pointers.
 
The opponents have buried 132 treys in Westminster's 13 games, or more than 10 a game. 

Men’s Wrestling to host N.M. Highlands on Thursday

CHADRON, Neb. -- The Chadron State College men's wrestling team will have its first home RMAC dual on Thursday when they host New Mexico Highlands in the Chicoine Center at 6 p.m.
 
It is Youth/Club Wrestling night so members of the Chadron Youth Wrestling Program will receive free admission to the dual.
 
CSC is 3-1 overall in duals and 1-0 in conference duals, defeating San Francisco State 40-3.
 
The Cowboy's are 3-5 overall and 1-2 in the RMAC. They lost in conference duals to Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Mesa and defeated Simon Fraser, 28-19.
 
Rhys Sellers is the only wrestler ranked for New Mexico Highlands, ranking #15 at 125 pounds by OpenMat. Sellers is 14-6 this season and will face either #7 Quade Smith or Yusef Nelson for CSC.
 
The dual against the Cowboys is the beginning of seven straight RMAC duals. The Eagles will compete at one open tournament after the seven duals leading up to NCAA Regionals on March 1.